Setting up the Intel NUC as an XBMC Appliance

What You Need

Installing the Hardware

To open up the NUC flip it upside down and remove the four screws. Then lift off the bottom. Since I’m using a USB thumb drive for storage, the only thing I need to install is the RAM. If you are installing a wireless card it goes in the PCI Express slot closest to the board. If you have an mSATA SSD, it goes in the other PCI Express slot. I installed on 4GB stick of RAM and then screwed the bottom back onto the case.

Setting up the Software

First you need to make the OpenELEC installer. Download the latest OpenELEC Stable – Intel x86_64 from here.

To make the installer from Windows, insert the USB drive you want to use for the OpenELEC installer. Unzip the file you just downloaded and run create_livestick.bat or create_livestick.exe. Enter the USB drive letter. You may be prompted to allow the program to make changes to your computer. Once it finishes safely room the USB drive.

To make the installer from Mac OS, insert the USB drive you want to use for the OpenELEC installer. Unzip the file you just downloaded and open Terminal. Run the following commands and follow the on screen instructions.

cd ~/Downloads/OpenELEC*  
sudo ./create_livestick_osx

To make the installer from Linux, insert the USB drive you want to use for the OpenELEC installer, run the following commands, and then follow the onscreen instructions.

# find your USB device
sudo fdisk -l

cd ~/Downloads/OpenELEC*

# replace device with your USB device
sudo ./create_livestick [device]

Installing

Hook the NUC up to your television. Connect your USB OpenELEC installer drive. If your NUC doesn’t have an mSATA SSD connect the USB drive that will be running OpenELEC. You’ll need a keyboard plugged in during setup. Now press the power button. The installer should start automatically. If it doesn’t start on it’s own the power cycle the NUC, and press F10 as soon as you see the BIOS screen. This will let you tell the computer to boot from the OpenELEC installer drive. Choose Quick Install and then select the drive you want to install OpenELEC on. It may take a few minutes. When it’s done, you will get kicked back to the menu. Choose reboot and then remove your installer USB drive.

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